Conagra spun off its potato-processing business Lamb Weston in November 2016; investors received one Lamb Weston share for every three Conagra shares they held. Since the split, Conagra is down roughly 20%, but Lamb Weston has soared 225%.


We still like the outlook for both stocks....

FORTREA HOLDINGS INC. $29 is still a spinoff buy. The company (Nasdaq symbol FTRE; Manufacturing sector; Shares outstanding: 88.8 million; Market cap: $2.6 billion; No dividend paid; Takeover Target Rating: Medium; www.fortrea.com) is a contract research organization (CRO) that provides clinical drug trial management to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.


On June 30, 2023, Laboratory Corp....

Over the span of 100 years, General Electric became one of the world’s largest conglomerates through a series of acquisitions, including many that were outside its main electrical products businesses such as insurance and broadcast TV networks.


After the 2008 financial crisis, GE decided to unwind its financial services businesses....

A: The iShares S&P/TSX Composite High Dividend Index ETF, $24.44, symbol XEI on Toronto (Units outstanding: 58.7 million; Market cap: $1.4 billion; www.blackrock.com/ca), aims to track the S&P/TSX Composite High Dividend Index, which effectively holds the 75 highest-yielding Canadian stocks.

The index is market-capitalization weighted, with each stock capped at 5% (any stock may rise above 5% temporarily until rebalancing)....

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the short-term suspension of elective procedures at hospitals and clinics around the world. Throughout the disruption, hospital-equipment supplier Steris kept reporting rising revenue and profits. The stock has since gone on to new highs....

SMITH DOUGLAS HOMES CORP. has filed paperwork with U.S. regulators for an initial public offering (IPO) of common shares. The stock will trade on the New York exchange under the symbol SDHC.

Smith Douglas is a Georgia-based homebuilder focused on southeastern and southern U.S....

ALIMENTATION COUCHE-TARD INC., $73.39, is a buy. The retailer (symbol ATD on Toronto) operates 12,337 convenience stores, mostly in North America and Europe.

In the three months ended July 23, 2023, Couche-Tard’s revenue fell by 16.3%, to $15.62 billion from $18.66 billion a year earlier (all figures except share price in U.S....

ENBRIDGE INC., $47.60, Toronto symbol ENB, remains a buy.

The company operates pipelines that pump oil and natural gas from Western Canada to eastern Canada and the U.S. It also distributes gas to 3.8 million consumers in Ontario and Quebec.

With the March 2023, payment, Enbridge raised your quarterly dividend by 3.2%....

RTX CORP., $75.80, New York symbol RTX, is still a buy for long-term gains.

The company recently changed its name from Raytheon Technologies Corp. (it did not change the trading symbol). Formed from the 2020 merger of Raytheon and United Technologies, it is a leading maker of commercial aircraft equipment, electronic systems for military aircraft, and guided missiles.

The stock dropped 4% this week after the company’s Pratt & Whitney unit announced that contaminated metal in some engine parts will force it to remove and inspect between 600 and 700 jet engines over the next three years.

RTX will record a charge of $3.0 billion in the third quarter of 2023 to cover these costs....

ROYAL BANK OF CANADA, $124.12, Toronto symbol RY, is still a buy.

In November 2022, the bank agreed to pay $13.5 billion in cash for the Canadian operations of U.K.-based HSBC Holdings plc (New York symbol HSBC). To put that cost in context, Royal’s market cap (the total value of all outstanding shares) is $172.3 billion.

HSBC operates 130 branches that mainly cater to businesses in industries that trade and bank internationally....